Drew Brees raised a few eyebrows during the summer when he said he thinks he can play the physically tortuous game of football until he is 45.

Brees promptly suffered a left side muscle strain that kept him out of practice for two weeks.

Tempting fate can come with reality-check reminders of football mortality.

"I'm serious," Brees, 35, said of playing 10 more years. "I am not delusional. I know that's something that would be extremely difficult to do. It can be done."

Whether Brees, beginning his 14th pro season, can beat the long odds isn't really the point.

Brees isn't afraid to tempt fate. He's challenged by it.

It illustrates how a quarterback considered too short (6 feet) coming out of Purdue, and not fit to succeed by the Miami Dolphins after shoulder surgery in 2006, pushes himself to the hilt.

The 2024 season can wait. Rather than mull his inner George Blanda, Brees has a Super Bowl mission to consider.

His return from the summer injury was inspiring in its own right. Brees appeared in one preseason game, and briefly at that. He played one quarter at the Indianapolis Colts, and the Saints put up 14 points.

So the Saints' season remains intact.

Without Brees, they don't stand a chance. With him, New Orleans can finish the season by playing in the Super Bowl.

Five quarterbacks in NFL history have passed for 5,000 yards in a season, and Brees is the only one who has achieved the feat more than once, doing it four times, including each of the last three seasons.

Yet in each of those campaigns, like the first instance in 2008, the Saints finished short of reaching the Super Bowl.

So the question begs: Can Brees put up those types of numbers and win a championship?

Brees didn't pass for 5,000 yards in 2009, when the Saints marched toward the Super Bowl XLIV crown. He threw for 4,388 yards that season.

There are the two other indicators beyond Brees' statistics that will tell us whether the Saints can go all the way to Glendale, Arizona, site of Super Bowl XLIX.

Can they win on the road?

Sure, we've heard that before. The Saints got the first road playoff win in franchise history last season, dousing the Eagles in Philadelphia — before getting trounced by the Seahawks in Seattle.

No, even though the Saints are seemingly more balanced than ever, they don't want to go to Seattle again in January.

The key will be to avoid such a trap and win on the road in September, October and even December, earning the right to stay home in January.

The Saints need to win 13 or 14 regular-season games and get the No. 1 seed.

That's the ticket.

The Mercedes-Benz Superdome can be every bit as intimidating as Seattle's CenturyLink Field, and not only because of the noise. It's the team. The fast-break Saints are 20-4 at the Dome over the last three seasons and, well, undefeated at home in their last two seasons with coach Sean Payton on the sideline (they were 4-4 at home in 2012, when Payton served a one-season suspension for his role in the bounty scandal).

There's good reason to believe they will be even better this season even with Brees surrounded by a retooled supporting cast that includes rookie first-round wide receiver Brandin Cooks joining the ranks of Jimmy Graham and Marques Colston.

But if the Saints don't wind up with home-field advantage in the playoffs, all bets are off.

Which brings us around to the defense.

Had there been an award last season for comeback coordinator of the year, it would have gone to Rob Ryan, who was kicked to the curb by the Dallas Cowboys and signed to rebuild the Saints defense.

It was an impressive quick fix. The Saints defense ranked fourth in the NFL last season in yards allowed, including second against the pass, after ranking last in 2012, the year before Ryan arrived.

The unit has been completely overhauled with fresh blood since the 2009 championship season, and that is precisely why the Saints will be even better this season.

There are young, fresh legs up front to rush the passer in Cameron Jordan, Junior Galette and Akiem Hicks. There's a thumper in the middle with linebacker Curtis Lofton. On the back end, the Saints have arguably the best trio of safeties in the league in Kenny Vaccaro (an emerging star in his second season), Rafael Bush and Jairus Byrd, a Pro Bowl-credentialed ballhawk.

Byrd's acquisition was significant in underscoring the challenge to improve. The Saints defense had an NFC-low 19 takeaways last season, which is why Ryan and Payton spent all offseason harping about expectations.

"To make that next step and be an elite unit, we've got to force turnovers and create more opportunities for our offense," Lofton said. "If we can do that, the sky's the limit."

Jarrett Bell is an NFL columnist for USA Today. Connect with him on Twitter @JarrettBell.